Safety on a stick

The New Ulm Chamber of Commerce is very serious about the Highway 14 project, so serious, in fact, that they are resorting to satire as a means of pushing the issue.

The Chamber has commissioned several editorial cartoons on the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s lack of committment to the Highway 14 project. The latest, above, takes a poke at the traffic control safety sticks that prevent passing on Highway 14 between New Ulm and North Mankato.

“We appreciate that the Minnesota Department of Transportation is acknowledging that there are safety issues with Highway 14. Unfortunately, Hwy 14, being a two lane road, also has economic ramifications. We are expecting more than traffic control-on-a stick. We understand the funding isn’t there and the cartoon reflects the financial restraints the state and MnDOT have, but this community was promised a four-lane expansion from New Ulm to Mankato over 40 years ago,” said Chamber President Audra Shaneman.

The cartoon uses the Minnesota State Fair theme of serving everything on a stick to skewer MnDOT. It is an appropriate theme, since annual surveys taken at the fair for years have indicated that state residents think Highway 14 is one of the worst in the state.